No seat! Gowda ignores bahu Bhavani

He did not give in to pressure from several leaders of the party to field his daughter-in-law.

JD(S) candidate Patel Shivaram files his papers in Hassan. Former minister H.D. Revanna and his wife Bhavani were present

Hassan: JD (S) patriarch H.D. Deve Gowda did not give in to pressure from several leaders of the party to field his daughter-in-law Bhavani Revanna from his home district, but gave Patel Shivaram, MLC, another term by picking him to contest polls to the Legislative Council scheduled to be held on December 27. On Wednesday, the last day for submission of nomination papers, Mr Patel Shivaram handed in his papers in the presence of former minister H D Revanna, Balakrishna, MLA, and other leaders.

Though Mrs Bhavani’s name was doing the rounds, Mr Gowda thought fielding her would send a wrong message that members of his family get prominence in the party. Besides, it would also give an opportunity for leaders of Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party to target JD (S) in the run-up to the polls. Mr Patel Shivaram faced opposition from party MLAs with many leaders accusing him of neglecting their interests and not taking them into confidence nor he had the capacity to keep party votes intact and garner the support of others to win the election.

When party leaders met Mr Gowda and asked him to field Mrs Bhavani, Mr Gowda asked them to work for the success of Mr Shivaram and they had no choice but to agree. Mr Balakrishna, representing Shravanabelagola constituency in Hassan, had strongly backed the candidature of Mrs Bhavani and said, “Yes, I backed Mrs Bhavani for the ticket but now Mr Patel Shivram has emerged as the party candidate and we will work for his success.”

Download the all new Deccan Chronicle app for Android and iOS to stay up-to-date with latest headlines and news stories in politics, entertainment, sports, technology, business and much more from India and around the world.